Louis Liger-Belair

Louis Liger-Belair (11 July 1772-4 December 1835) was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography
Louis Liger-Belair was born in Vendeuvre-sur-Barse, Aube, France on 11 July 1772, and he joined the French Revolutionary Army in 1792 and served in the War in the Vendee. At the start of the Napoleonic Wars, he took part in the campaign in Austria in 1805 and in Prussia and Poland from 1806 to 1807, becoming a Brigadier-General on 15 November 1806 following his capture of Magdeburg. In 1808, he was sent to Spain at the start of the Peninsular War, and, on 6 June, he destroyed the village of Valdepenas after its inhabitants ousted and defeated the French garrison. On 21 July 1808, he was captured at the Battle of Bailen, and he returned to France on 12 November before being sent back to Spain on 18 December. He was made a baron of the empire on 10 February 1809 and a Major-General on 31 July 1811, and, on 19 January 1814, he was recalled to Paris after abandoning the defense of Dijon against the Prussians during the Defense of France. During the Bourbon Restoration, he was given command of a division at Nancy, and he became a count in 1823. He died in 1835.